STRONG winds caused chaos across the Godalming area yesterday (Thursday) as trees were blown down onto cars, power lines and railways tracks.

Thousands of homes were left without electricity for most of the day as winds reached gale force.

In one of several incidents, a tree fell onto two stationary cars in Station Lane, Milford, and another onto the railway line. A grey BMW 330ci and a red Alfa Romeo, were empty at the time of the incident which occurred just after 1pm.

At Witley, a tree fell onto railway lines and was then hit by a train. Nobody was injured.

South West Trains confirmed that in excess of 80 trees had come down during the course of the day across its network.

Trees were blown over on to power lines in Culmer Lane, Witley and Elstead Road, Elstead, blocking the main route into the village.

Between 30,000 and 35,000 people across the region were affected by electricity power cuts because of falling trees and walls. Engineers were out to rectify the problems as safely and quickly as possible.